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Lee et al. Microstructures 2023;3:2023021 Microstructures
DOI: 10.20517/microstructures.2023.08

Perspective Open Access

Emerging microporous materials as novel templates

for quantum dots

1,2
1
Jaeho Lee , Lianzhou Wang , Jingwei Hou 1
1
School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia.
2
Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia.
Correspondence to: Dr. Jingwei Hou, Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia. E-mail:
jingwei.hou@uq.edu.au
How to cite this article: Lee J, Wang L, Hou J. Emerging microporous materials as novel templates for quantum dots.
Microstructures 2023;3:2023021. https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/microstructures.2023.08

Received: 3 Feb 2023 First Decision: 27 Feb 2023 Revised: 11 Mar 2023 Accepted: 17 Apr 2023 Published: 26 Apr 2023

Academic Editors: Shujun Zhang, Zibin Chen Copy Editor: Fangling Lan Production Editor: Fangling Lan

Abstract
Microporous structures have attracted significant attention in recent years. In particular, metal-organic frameworks
(MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have received considerable attention due to their tailorable
structures that offer a wide range of choices in terms of molecular building blocks. Due to their high tunability,
these materials are considered as ideal host matrices for templating and encapsulating guest materials, particularly
quantum dots (QDs). QDs are investigated heavily for various applications such as light-emitting diodes (LED),
biosensors, catalysts, and solar cells due to their unique properties from the quantum confinement effect. However,
one of the drawbacks of QDs is their tendency to aggregate and exhibit low stability due to their small size and
kinetic trapping in nanoparticle form. This perspective highlights promising approaches to enhance the
performance and stability of QDs by using microporous materials as an encapsulation layer. Additionally, potential
mitigating strategies are discussed to overcome current challenges and improve the practicality of QDs embedded
in microporous nanocomposites.

Keywords: Metal-organic frameworks, covalent organic frameworks, zeolites, microstructures, QD encapsulation

INTRODUCTION
Quantum dots (QDs) are nanocrystals that behave similarly to an atom as a result of quantum physics.
When the size of nanomaterials reaches a level comparable to or even smaller than the Bohr radius, the

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